Former Bellator champ Michael Chandler on the importance of fight IQ

Former Bellator champ Michael Chandler on the importance of fight IQ

For a guy who’s clearly excelled in the sport, former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Michael Chandler (12-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) used to spend surprisingly little time following it.

When it comes to MMA fighters, the difference between the average and the elite, the winners and the losers, are the decisions made inside the cage. Chandler recognizes the importance of competing intelligently, and that’s why, for the first time, he has decided to submerge his life in all things MMA.

“There’s some things you can learn about the sport to put yourself in the best situation possible to succeed,” Chandler told MMAjunkie Radio. “To be a great fighter you can be there physically, you can be there mentally, you can be confident and all that stuff, but you have to actually learn about the sport and continue to see how the sport’s evolving.”

Chandler took to the sport rather quickly upon becoming a professional. He was signed to the now-defunct Strikeforce organization for just his second fight. Shortly after, he joined the ranks of Bellator for his fourth professional bout and is still with the organization to this day.

Chandler admits, outside of his own career and a few close friends, he never put much emphasis on following the latest happenings in the world of MMA. He didn’t watch many fights, didn’t follow any reality shows, podcasts or even the latest news.

The 28-year-old spends a lot of time with Alliance MMA teammate Dominick Cruz, who serves as an analyst for FOX Sports. Cruz is a tactician when he competes, and upon analyzing what “The Dominator” has done right, Chandler’s outlook changed. He realized he must become further entangled in all aspects of the sport in order to take his career to the next level.

“I think there’s nothing wrong with learning about the sport and not just focusing on yourself,” Chandler said. “I talk about fight IQ, one of the great things about training with Dominick Cruz is his fight IQ is genius-level. That’s why he’s on FOX and why people listen when he talks about analyzing fights. He knows. His fight IQ is so high. I’m trying to learn a lot about the sport and a lot of that goes with learning about different fighters and watching different shows and all that stuff.”

Chandler is one of the most talented and exciting lightweights in the world, but after opening his career with a 12-0 record, he currently finds himself riding a two-fight losing streak. While those losses came against two of the world’s best 155-pound fighters in Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks, Chandler knows he didn’t perform to his potential in either fight.

Those losses forced Chandler to recognize he needs to do more. He must eat, breath and sleep MMA, and a result he’ll perform at a higher level. For the majority of his career, the Chandler has got by on talent and work ethic. Following the back-to-back losses, he’s become aware it takes much more to be the best.

Chandler’s goal going forward is to show his intelligence on fight night. If he has to sacrifice some of the in-fight risks that have made him such a beloved competitor, he’ll do just that.

“That fight just wasn’t me,” Chandler said of his loss Brooks in May. “It was a very small fraction of my ability and of my talent.”

Chandler does not have a fight scheduled at this time. However, he expects to return to the Bellator cage before the end of 2014.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

Matt Brown performed an honest career calculation that led him to his decision to retire after his next fight. His opponent, Diego Sanchez, seems to have chosen the opposite path. For many aging fighters, these are the two choices, and neither is an easy one to make.